Workaholic
by MelancholyHappiness
Summary: MERRY SLAVEMAS, EVERYONE! Just a one-shot I made... a year ago. Ah, summary? ... Bakura loves torturing souls in the depths of the Shadow Realm. That's kinda it. Tendershipping, foul language... M for violence!


**I realize that basically every Tendershipping fic is based off the song Scream by Avenged Sevenfold, but I've only heard the song recently (can't stop listening to it) and I think I might have a better twist on it. It will definitely be the softest, least gory Scream story ever done.**

"Yanushi?" called Bakura, stepping into the corridor between his and Ryou's soul rooms. He had taken a trip to the Shadow Realm to… purify himself. It was actually not a complicated process, and very fun.

Bakura had made a promise to Yami sometime before to never hurt the boy, after one near-fatal experience with a butcher knife. Thankfully, Yami was able to remove that memory from Ryou's mind, because the hikari probably would have tried to finish the job. He was devoted to his yami as much as Bakura was to him, but Ryou's sometimes got to the point where it was unhealthy.

So if Bakura was not to hurt his tenshi, he had to find something to satiate the blood-lust. He discovered murdering immortal souls was the best bet. It was incredibly hard to destroy them, not to mention an eternity in hell to pay when his tenshi… passed, but the patience and effort it took was oddly satisfying. They didn't die, they just became part of the mass that was the shell of the Realm. One was usually enough for a couple of weeks, but he had recently been cutting down.

Yami found him torturing a soul a couple of weeks ago (set the fucker free, too) and decided to tell Ryou. The innocent was, of course, appalled, and demanded Bakura never do it again. Yami had the sense not to tell him why, and Bakura had no intention of adding that stress to the many his hikari had already.

Bakura couldn't bare to disappoint his (secret) love, so he lied and promised he wouldn't. He had to sneak in and out of the Shadow Realm as many times in a month as he could manage and hope his hikari wouldn't catch him.

"Yanushi?" he called again, pushing on the door to his hikari's soul room. It opened, so he walked inside and looked around. Ryou was sitting in a corner, sniffling pathetically. Bakura, having relieved all his stress on the soul of a young girl (died before her time, I suppose… no need to waste), wasn't afraid of accidentally hurting his hikari, so he ran to the boy and pulled him into his arms.

"Tenshi, are you alright?" he whispered, rocking Ryou gently. He instantly stopped crying, sniffing Bakura's shirt and hair. He pushed the spirit off of him, standing over him and glaring with chocolate brown eyes that never seemed to look angry enough.

"Why do you smell like sulfur?" he asked lividly, balling his fists at his sides. Bakura looked away, sighing. He knew he would get caught again.

"I was… down at the sulfur pits in the Shadow Realm," he said, trying not to look at his hikari.

"Why?" he asked, drawing the word through his teeth. "And don't lie to me."

"Malik and I were… talking," he said, closing his eyes. Ryou's anger faded and he looked at his yami in disappointment.

"I asked you not to lie," he said, his voice clogged with tears. Bakura glanced up at him then, watching him sink to the floor and back into Bakura's arms. "I want to trust you, karinushi (tenant), but you keep lying to me."

Bakura seemed stricken, unwilling to reveal just how evil he was to his light. But he also wanted the boy's trust, and his love. Bakura took a deep breath and brought his lips to Ryou's ear.

"I was destroying souls. I was torturing them until they couldn't take it anymore and then ripping them apart, sending them to be part of the Shadow Realm." Ryou stayed calm, contemplating this.

"I thought they were already part of the Shadow Realm," he whispered back, shifting closer to his yami. Bakura shook his head slightly.

"They're in it, but have free reign. I… shatter their freedom." Ryou was silent again, before pulling back slightly and kissing Bakura on the cheek. He flushed, his eyes widening in surprise.

"I want to see it," he said, wrapping his legs around Bakura's waist. "I don't care why you do it," he said, a little louder, before Bakura could interrupt, "I want to see you do it. I want to see why you've broken your promise. I'll wait in your soul room and you open a… dimensional window." Bakura couldn't refuse his light, no matter how hard he tried, so he picked the boy up and brought him to the doorway.

"Don't get too close, hikari. It's-"

"I know, mortals can't survive in the Realm." Bakura looked stricken again, walking into his room and throwing the door wide, ripping a hole in the fabric of the time-space continuum.

"No, not that. I might not be able to save you… from myself. It's true, I was a tomb robber, I am the King of Thieves. But I was never allowed to murder, because once it starts for me…" He trailed off, looking into Ryou's determined eyes before stepping through the hole.

/It's really calm,/ thought Ryou, watching lightning strike through dark clouds. Occasionally one would hit the ground, searing it to black. The smell of sulfur permeated the whole room.

/Well, it's not Hell,/ Bakura thought back, searching carefully. He snarled, reaching out quickly and snatching something out of the air. Ryou cocked his head, confused, but Bakura shook his fist and a translucent figure appeared. It was a boy, not much older than Ryou, thin and frail like the hikari. Bakura was holding him by his arm, and smiled at him.

/'Ku-/ was all Ryou was able to think before Bakura reached out his other hand and snapped the boy's arm. He screamed, his anguish echoing through the corridor, and Ryou stepped forward instinctively. Bakura paid no attention as he ripped the skin from the boy's chest with his bare hand. Ryou gasped, but didn't cry out.

"Please!" the boy continued to scream, his immortal manifestation of skin healing.

/He can't really feel anything,/ whispered Bakura, more to himself then to Ryou. /He thinks he's being hurt, so he screams in pain./ Ryou nodded, taking another tentative step forward. Bakura pulled a pocket knife out, slashing and hacking at the boy's face and neck. His screams were cut off for an instant, until his throat healed and allowed air through it again.

Ryou continued forward, entranced. It seemed like the Shadow Realm was spinning, dragging him in against his will. Obviously spirits like Bakura and the Pharaoh had no problem, but humans were easily swayed. He put his hand on the doorframe, leaning into the sulfurous cool air.

"No!" the soul shrieked, trying to fight back, but Bakura held him up into space and cut him horizontally across his stomach. A translucent, shimmering trail of intestines poured out, dangling onto the ground. Real-looking blood splattered onto the Thief King, coating him in sticky red, but he didn't seem to notice, or care. The strings pulled back into his abdomen, as if puppeted by invisible threads, but Bakura hacked at them again and cut segments off.

Ryou was almost leaning into the window, mesmerized by his yami at work. The next scream was absolutely bloodcurdling, forcing Ryou to drop to his knees with his hands over his ears. Bakura slammed the knife again and again through the soul's ribs, succeeding in cracking them and finding his heart. Bakura reached in, holding the knife in his mouth as he dug around.

Ryou opened his tightly shut eyes just in time to see Bakura pull the heart out, crushing it his hand. He laughed maniacally, almost drowning out the boy until he looked over at Ryou. He wasn't crying, far from it. He was watching Bakura be happy, watching him have fun, and it excited him.

Bakura's pupils were dilated, but it wasn't that dark in the Realm. He was like a cat, engrossed in the destruction of his prey. The white haired spirit dropped the soul, letting go of the heart and watching it reform. The soul picked it up, whimpering, and put it back in his chest, sighing as it's veins reconnected. He gathered his intestines in his arms, dumping them haphazardly in his stomach area. The skin there healed up faster than around his ribs. As soon as he deemed himself alright, he took one last look at Bakura and ran off.

"You see?" shouted Bakura over the storm that was starting. "This is what I do! Do you want to know why?" Ryou shook his head frantically, backing away. "I'll tell you anyway, tenshi! I do this to them, so I won't do it to you!" Bakura stumbled through dimensions, the blood fading away but the smell of sulfur even stronger.

Ryou glanced up at him, terrified, but Bakura just reached out to him and took him into his arms. "I love you, hikari. I'm willing to kill hundreds, thousands, and go to hell for eternity, all for you. To keep you safe from myself." Ryou closed his eyes, breathing in Bakura's smell under all the hellish fumes.

"Thank you," he said, surprisingly strongly after what he just witnessed. "But I don't think I'm worth-"

"You are," interrupted the spirit, watching Ryou tremble. "I made this pact with Yami, to hurt them instead of you. He is the… Pharaoh," he spat rolling his eyes, "And apparently he has the power to promise reincarnation for anyone who… endures my 'torture'." Ryou giggled, kissing Bakura's shoulder.

"I'll get you into Heaven," promised the light, frowning slightly. "If I get in."

"Of course you will, tenshi."

"But if I'm allowing you to do this…" he started, looking into Bakura's eyes. He trailed off at the look on his face, one of panic-stricken doubt. "Bakura, I do not condone this kind of behavior," he said, narrowing his eyes. Bakura nodded, seeming upset, but saw Ryou wink and smiled.

* * *

"So he's going to let you do it, then," asked Yami, throwing a pebble into the sulfur springs. Bakura smirked, shaking his head.

"I can't believe it either," he said, watching it skip across. "I have a question. Is there any way to guarantee your hikari gets into Heaven?"

The Pharaoh looked thoughtful. "The Shadow Realm is… middle ground. It's open to everyone. Hell has anywhere from the bad to the horrible. Heaven is a special case. I'm sure the hikari half of a soul will get in."

"What about me?" asked Bakura, looking hopeful. Yami burst out laughing, slapping his knee theatrically. Bakura glared at him, making to push him into the spring, but the Pharaoh shook his head.

"Just kidding, tomb robber. You are… pretty much the decider of who gets reincarnated and who doesn't. No one else has the will, or the power, really, to torture souls until they have no will left. I'm positive that when your hikari dies, you'll be able to go to Heaven any time you want. So long as you keep doing your job." Bakura looked ecstatic, grinning wildly.

"I have to tell Ryou," he breathed, scrambling off the rocky outcropping and across the open space. In a couple of moments, he ripped a hole and stepped through. Yami chuckled to himself, fingering his bangs. He was sure he would get some tonight for helping Yugi's friend.

* * *

"I have great news, tenshi!" yelled Bakura, outside the door to Ryou's class. He turned suddenly, recognizing Bakura's voice. Everyone else turned, watching his shock, but they couldn't see anything. Yugi groaned and Ryou looked at him, nodding sadly. Yugi could see the thief as well. The teacher saw their exchange and asked if they needed some time outside.

Yugi shook his head but Ryou thanked her and left, closing the door quietly behind him.

"Please don't do that, karinushi. I'm in school, you could have just thought it to me."

"But you have the Ring with you, so I can materialize." Bakura looked so adorably happy that Ryou had to hug him around the waist, leading him a little further down the hall. "I have something to tell you." Ryou's blush faded and he nodded, looking up into his yami's eyes.

"We're getting into Heaven!" he whispered excitedly.

"'Kura," said Ryou, exasperated. "Isn't it a little early to think about me dying?" Bakura shrugged, moving away slightly. Ryou saw the hurt in his eyes and smiled, kissing him full on the mouth.

"Thanks for the thought, though," he said when he pulled back, rubbing the top of Bakura's arm. "I'm glad to know we can stay together."

"Yanushi," the spirit breathed, leaning in for another kiss, but the bell rang and doors started opening. Ryou stepped back, grinning slyly.

"After school," he whispered, catching sight of Joey and Kaiba. "We can talk more." Bakura nodded, love struck, and watched his tenshi trip lightly toward his friends. He spared one last glance at Yugi and the Pharaoh, his translucent figure seen hovering just behind the boy, before disappearing.

/Are you going to work?/ thought Ryou, chatting animatedly with his friends. Bakura smirked from inside his soul room, creating an opening to the Shadow Realm and walking in. Yami and Marik were arguing about nothing again, not even noticing him following them.

/Mmm,/ replied Bakura in the affirmative, tapping Marik on the shoulder.

"What would you think about going to Heaven with your hikari?" the Thief King asked, crossing his arms over his chest. Yami grinned, turning to Marik as well.

**I'm not prepared to Bronzeship just yet. I'm still in the mindset that they're the same person :D**

**How did you like it? Questions, comments?**

**That wasn't actually that gory… I thought it would be worse.**


End file.
